THE KINKASEKI MEMORIAL - HOW IT ALL BEGAN. . .

THE STORY OF THE KINKASEKI MEMORIAL

The war was over; the Japanese, who had ruled Taiwan for 50 years, left the island, and the Taiwan Metal Mining Co. took over the operation of what had been the largest copper mine in the Japanese Empire. The prisoners of war who had been forced to slave in the dark depths of the mine were also gone, repatriated home to rebuild their lives.

In time - the ore having run out, the mine eventually closed. Tall grass overgrew the mine sites, and the mine equipment began to rust and crumble as the years wore on. It became a desolate sight, a forgotten place and time -that is, for all but a few.

That few were the survivors of one of the worst POW camps in the Far East. Nothing can never erase the horrors and hardships suffered in that place called KINKASEKI. However, one can only hope that time would begin to heal some of the wounds, and that in some way the story could be told so that those who followed after, might never forget what happened there.

One of those survivors, Jack Edwards, had come back to the orient after the war, and throughout his life in Hong Kong and his many battles for the rights of F.E.P.O.W.'s, had never forgotten his time in Taiwan. He had always dreamed of having some kind of monument built there to honour his comrades who had lived - and died, so bravely for their country.

Jack's dream was shared by many of his former comrades and several friends, among them Mr. Michael Boyden, who had met Jack while living in Hong Kong, and Mr. Al Hausske, a retired US Marine Colonel whom Jack had befriended.

Michael Boyden moved to Taiwan a few years later, and in 1990 he joined a Hash House Harriers run at Chinguashi, organized by two friends who, after reading Jack Edwards' book - "Banzai You Bastards!" - had explored the area and found the location of the camp. Al Hausske also assisted in locating the area of the former camp through his dialogues with some of the local villagers. The following year, another Hash run was organized, this time with Jack Edwards in attendance, and the idea of a memorial was put forth. Now the dream was one step closer to reality, but no further action was taken at that time.

Several years had gone by, when in November 1996 at a Remembrance Day service in Taipei, a poem entitled "Gloomy Taiwan" taken from Jack's book was recited by the Director of the British Trade Office, Mr. Alan Collins. The Director of the Canadian Trade Office, Mr. Hugh Stephens enquired about the book and the former POW camp, and became interested in the story of Kinkaseki. On reading the account he found that there had been a Canadian doctor in the camp, who had saved the lives of many of the men, and also that a movie produced by the doctor's daughter after his death, had been made by Canada's National Film Board.

He shared the story with Michael Hurst, a Canadian Society Board Member and editor of the Canadian magazine in Taiwan. They decided to try to get a copy of the film, show it to the Canadian community in Taipei, and then run a day trip out to the site of the former camp.

Michael took on the job, and with the backing of the Canadian Society in Taiwan, the project grew. It was agreed to invite former POW, Jack Edwards to come to Taiwan to introduce the premier screening of the film and lead the day tour to the site. On studying the matter more thoroughly, Michael discovered that the majority of the prisoners who were interned at Kinkaseki were British, and that there were others from the Commonwealth there as well. He decided that this should become a "Commonwealth community" event, and immediately set about to get the other groups involved.

Friday, May 16, 1997 saw the first showing in Taiwan of the NFB film "A WAR STORY", based on the life of Major Ben Wheeler, the Canadian doctor in the camp. Jack Edwards was a featured commentator in the film, along with several other former POWs who were interviewed for the award-winning documentary. Close to 140 people turned out to view the film, and over 50 showed up on Sunday, May 18 for the tour of the former POW camp site and mine at Chinguashi, led by Jack Edwards.

With the successful conclusion of the Kinkaseki Memorial Weekend and all the enthusiasm in the community, a decision was made to pursue the construction of a memorial on the site of the camp, now occupied by a lovely little park. A new committee was formed with Michael Boyden at the helm, to start the drive to erect a memorial on the site.

Over the months that followed, the committee devised the plans, found a contractor, negotiated with the local authorities, initiated fundraising, and supervised the building of the memorial which so proudly stands here today.

It is dedicated to the more than 1000 men who were interned in this infamous POW camp; those that died - either there, or as a result of their treatment there - and also the other former Taiwan POW camps, so that "none of us should forget".